Disco Gatsby

On my desk this week dropped not one but two promos of remixes of songs off the Baz Luhrman Great Gatsby soundtrack. These remix packages seem to have been unleashed in promotion of the dvd/ Blu-Ray release of the film at the end of the month. You might want to brush up on your Charleston moves and jazz hands before you take to the dancefloor under a Roaring '20s mirror ball with these.

Both songs are directed toward contemporary audiences with anachronistic lyrics, of course, though capturing something of the film's style and Depression-age mood.

The first cd I listened to was Fergie's "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody," featuring Q-Tip and GoonRock. Gatsby hip hop. I didn't consider the remixes for this song to be successful, albeit the Marco de Silva re-do has a certain hands-in-the-air quality to it. Others, such as the Drop City Yacht Club Gangster Summer Mix, may be right for hip hop floors, but do gangstas really want to dance to Gatsby?

Much more successful is Lana Del Ray with "Young & Beautiful." The original production is a hauntingly rendered ballad from the soundtrack and there are a slew of remixes. I rather liked the Shahaf Moran extended remix but most successful is the broodingly trancey Kaskade remix that incorporates part of the original ballad production to capture the mood.

In any event, while not wholly successful disco endeavors, these mixes might suffice to keep you on the floor after peak hour's passed.